The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-03-15

~ m.e.a,s -. Of MAJOR g. =. Eui..
\ TreSeribsa by = Frsend-
LAke-cfsy Reporter.
Major Giles Underhill Ellis was born
in Bullock county, Ga, on the asd day
of March, in the year 1909.
III fsee-he.- WIN fis fssier. mUtiser.
two broshers and six sisters. removed
from Bullock county To Camden. Ga,
thence to Nassau. Florida, and thence
to Hogtown, now Gainesville. Ar the
time Of the Majors removal to hog
town, AAachua was an organized coaan-
try extending northwardly to the Geor.
gia line. Although 50 sparsely settled
rapidly during the two following yearn
Other settlements were formed In quick
succession; among them the Summers,
Warens, Burnetts and Hagues-
Farming during the first and second
yoan Of his residence was carried On
chielac to furnish food. cow peas, pump
kins, etc. -- L.
In the third year was commenced the
cultivation Of long staple cotton. The
land WIS exceedingly productive yield
ing one hale Ut cotton per acre. There
that time. The cotton bales weighed
about three hundred pounds and were
pseesed by the feet, stamping.
The first crop Of cotton grown by the
Majors father was carried to Black
Greek, Duval county, and sold to 5. y.
Gray for e cents per pound The cotton
was ginned by hand. fifty pounds Of lint
being considered a good days work on
the gin. The gin was turned with q
candle ut each end like srindstnne.
The spinning wheel and loom contrib
uted important articles Of house-furnish-
ing a. the wearing apparel had to be man
ufHctured at home. There were no cheap
fskrics in the market. The ladies gezser-
ally wore homespun clothing. Occasion
ally, calico dress found its way into the
community and it invariably caused
quite q sensation among the beaux.
! A linen bosom shirt was rarer than a
calico dress. Such a luxury was totally
unknown in the region around Hog
town. The Majors mother supplied him
and his brother Tom with a shirt apiece.
4 made OF what was called Northern
hOmeSpun, and the material was 80 fine
compared with their own that they were
| only permitted to wear it on Sunday.
The material was procured at Black
! Creek. .,...-. Il --.--- --...---
The only buttons in use were made OF
\ goyird and covered with cloth
During the first three or four years OF
county being entirely exempt from al
disease they concluded the fountain u
health conferred there While deprived
of the luxurious and many Of the com
forts of life, absolute health compensat
ed largely for their absence. Exemp
ton from sickness, combined with ths
delightful character Of the climate con
duced much to the rapid influx of resi-
dents from the localities the original set
tiers had removed from.
The Majors first years residence nea
HOgtown, was spent with Messrs. VIII
liam Thomas and Arthur Primer, will
whom he farmed for a share of the crol
! with the view of providing food supple
for his father and family, as previousl
stated. who were to remove from Nassa
county at the end of the year. AS Their
We're no ladies in the family, Thomas an
Primer having left their families in MAJ
sau he was. per force, the boy, the mai
of all work" Cooking for the hOusehoi
! was one of his many duties and like man
of the present day -What to cook" wa
daily recurring question to him as we
as how To cook. Only the rudest utensi
; were obtainable and although ii SCENE
. simple enough to him Just to think of y,
, he was annoyed exceedingly in the pref
aration of the bread, which was made
corn meal. His inventive genius can
: TO his relief at last, whether BY instinct
, otherwise he never krew.
Farming in 1s34-5 was unsuccessf'
: owing to protracted drouth. AbundaI
4 crops crowned the farmers efforts in Is;
: and from that time forward plenty Wi
r their favored lot.
In 1880 the Major opened a store abo,
ten or twelve miles southeast of Mical
Z Opy on the Camp King road on a plas
known as the Mizell place, afterwaI
; named Mccormick 1t now probably b
lOnxs to McSeewart, formerly of Louis
ana. The Indian traders, merchants d,
q ing business On Black Greek, at White
e vile, prevailed on him to accept stoc
!, Of goods adapted to the Indian trad
who evinced great confidence in his bus
ness capacity. although he was merel
0 . farmer boy.
\ The stock selected consisted of beas
4 by the bushel, striped cotton, viii
cloth. etc. Col Humphreys was the fir
Unit4,d States Government Indian Agei
: appointed there, and he brought
friends with him almost daily to d
i store. Among them were Col Mel
. tOsh, Maj. A. Beckham, Capt. LedwOrt
! and other residents of the neighborhOo'
! They usually brought a prominent Il
n dian with Them, Chief Micanopy W,
Z IN att xxritI, than ifh 4,